2022 St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day roster projection

Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals slides into third for a triple during the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Busch Stadium on August 24, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images)
Harrison Bader #48 of the St. Louis Cardinals slides into third for a triple during the eighth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Busch Stadium on August 24, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Jeff Curry/Getty Images) /
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Adam Wainwright #50 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Busch Stadium on September 8, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)
Adam Wainwright #50 of the St. Louis Cardinals delivers a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Busch Stadium on September 8, 2021 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Pitching staff

Rotation: Jack Flaherty, Adam Wainwright, Steven Matz, Miles Mikolas, Dakota Hudson

Not much to say here. A classic, not-too-flashy St. Louis Cardinals opening day rotation. No one is going to rank this group in their top five, but by the end of the season, a healthy group will be one of the best in the league.

Bullpen: Giovanny Gallegos, Jordan Hicks, Alex Reyes, T.J. McFarland (L), Drew VerHagen, Ryan Helsley, Genesis Cabrera (L), Kodi Whitley

I feel alright about this Cardinals bulpen. A full season of Hicks will go a long way, and hopefully Alex Reyes can find the consistency that got away from him at the end of 2021. New pickup VerHagen rounds out this group nicely.

Depth starters: Jake Woodford, Johan Oviedo, Angel Rondon, Matthew Liberatore

Extra bullpen arms: Nick Wittgren, Junior Fernandez, T.J. Zeuch (L)

Just outside the 26-man roster are these seven arms. Does this depth make you feel comfortable? Probably not. But this doesn’t scream weakness, either. We learned last season that you can never have enough arms, so I expect one or two more players to join this group.

Next. What’s next on the St. Louis Cardinals’ offseason to-do list?. dark

And there you have it. An interesting note about the 2022 team: only four of the 26 are new members of the team: Yepez, Donovan (the rookies), VerHagen, and Matz (new signings). The St. Louis Cardinals were disappointed in their wild card exit last season. By bringing mostly the same group back, we’ll see how they improve.